Torn Apart
by Sirius1Fan
Summary: James thought Lily and the girls were dead. Lily thought James and the boys were dead. Now, years later, two families meet again but can they coexists together after so long and become a new family or will the years make it impossible to heal old scars?
1. Lily's Story

**Hey! Another story. This idea popped into my head a few days ago and I had to write it down before I lost it. Hope you all like it :D**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or anything from JK Rowling's universe. Anything you don't recognize is mine.

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Lily held her youngest child tightly in her arms and with her other hand pushed her second youngest daughter closer to her. She looked at Victorian style home that stood in front of her and felt a new wave of cold spread across her body that had nothing to do with the cold she was feeling from standing out in the pouring rain in the middle of the night. "C'mon girls" she said and walked up the house steps and stood at the front door the small roof on the porch sheltering them a little from the falling water. Lily looked at her girls and her eyes filled with sadness.

Her oldest daughter Jane had her 2 year old sister Annie clutched in her arms and was holding 5 year old Emily with her free hand. Her face held a determination that was very impressive for a 13 year old. Her second daughter Jessica looked fearfully at her mother and older sister while holding her sleeping 4 year old sister, Amanda. Lily gave them a weak smiled and rang the house's doorbell. They waited a few seconds and the door opened slowly. An old lady with a fierce countenance opened the door and stared at them for a few seconds. She was wearing a silk top decorated with a short necklace that held a small diamond around her neck. Her ears were also decorated with matching diamonds and her perfectly placed white streaked hair gave her a sophisticated look, while her eyes gave the appearance of a woman not to be meddled with. As her eyes fell upon Lily and her soaked children a look of distaste spread across her face and she said in a stern voice "Sorry, I am an old and rich woman but I _do not_ believe in charity" she was closing the door when Lily called out "Wait Grandmother".

The woman stopped and opened the door again, this time staring at the wet redhead with shocked eyes "Lily?" she whispered. In an instant her face hardened and she tried to close the door again "Please leave".

"Wait! Grandmother, please…" Lily released her daughters hand and used it to stop the door "please we need help" her voice cracked. The woman inside the Victorian home looked at her with a calculating stare and finally opened the door widely allowing them passage. Lily retook her daughters hand and pushed them all inside the house. After they shuffled in, the stern woman called out "Frida! Bring some towels down here at once".

After some scuffling was heard upstairs a plum looking woman with a flowered patterned apron hopped down the stairs with a stack of towels in her hand and she handed them around to the soaking girls. They took them readily and proceeded to dry themselves with the towels. Lily wrapped the baby in her arms in a towel and the turned to the two year old next to her. Jane and Jessica were drying off their younger siblings as well. Lily turned to her grandmother who she had felt staring at her and began explaining the reason for their presence, but before she could open her mouth the stern woman said "Frida, take all these girls to the guest room upstairs and hand them a change of clothes. Please make sure they shower and dry off. After they finish, bring them down to the kitchen for some hot soup. The good natured maid called Frida led the young girls upstairs with the help of Jane and Jessica. Once they were out of sight the elder woman turned to Lily and spoke in a low voice "You head on to the second guest room. Third door on the left. Take a bath and give one to your baby" she pointed to the infant in the redhead's arms "then come down to the kitchen for some food. You may rest here for the night". Lily nodded and watched the woman walk away to the living room. Before heading upstairs.

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35 minutes later she walked down the stairs to the kitchen were the rest of her daughters were already slurping some hot soup that Frida had given them. "Frida?" she addressed the happy maid "Is there anywhere I can put Daisy?" she whispered signaling towards the baby girl in her arms "she fell asleep".

"Of course there is!" Frida answered happily "follow me". She led Lily to a dark living room next to the kitchen, turned on the lights and stood in front a small door which Lily assumed to be some sort of closet. Frida pulled out of the door an old fashioned baby crib decorated with lace and pink ribbon "I'll get some blankets" she said and headed off to the hall. Lily placed Daisy on the crib and stroked the baby's head staring at her daughter sleeping in the crib that had once belonged to her. Her grandmother stepped out from the hallway and into the room where Lily stood. "Lily" she said and pointed to the couch on her right "sit down" she sat down on the armchair next to the couch. Lily did as the older woman asked "Thank you for helping us Grandma". "You know I don't like being called that" the stern woman said.

"Sorry Ruth" Lily added.

"Your girls have grown a lot Lillian" she looked towards the kitchen. Lily followed her gaze "That's right. The last time you saw them was when Emily was born".

"Doesn't she have a twin brother?" Ruth turned to the redhead mother.

Lily nodded "Harry" her voice cracked for the second time that evening and tears threatened to fall from her emerald eyes. Both women were quiet for a few seconds until Ruth said "I deserve an explanation Lillian".

Lily took a look at her daughters and wiped her eyes. She whispered to the older woman "You've only met my oldest children: Adam, Jane, Jessica, Charlie, and of course, Harry and Emily. A year after they were born, me and James" she paused for a moment before continuing "had Amanda; a year after her we had Jake; a year after Jake we had triplets, Ruben, Erin and Annie; and two years after them" she pointed to the crib "another pair of triplets, Darren, Daniel and Daisy. They were born three months ago".

"Sounds like quite a family" Ruth nodded and then looked at the kitchen once again "you seem to have only brought half".

Lily stared at the wall for a few minutes and said in a defeated voice "We've been in hiding" Lily looked at Ruth who had a shadow of surprise etched across her face "There's this wizard, a **dark** wizard that has been rising to power. He calls himself Lord Voldemort. We, me and James, have been fighting on the other side, against this Dark Lord. A few moths ago a spy of Dumbledore's told him that Voldemort wanted me and James. He wanted to kill…us and our children. So we went into hiding but we were betrayed by one of James'…by one of **our **closest friends." Lily played with her hands and continued "Dumbledore scheduled a meeting with James for yesterday. He left at noon and decided to take all the boys with him, since they'd been restless after being locked up for so long, he only left Harry. He and Sirius left with them all. They left me, Harry and the girls behind with our house elf Spik. She helped me with all the girls. Jane and Jess had already head off to bed and they had taken Amy with them. Harry and Emily were sleeping in my and James' room. I was in the kitchen feeding Daisy when I heard a noise outside. Someone was entering the house. For a moment I though it was James but I quickly realized it wasn't. It was **him**, it was Voldemort. I grabbed Daisy and headed upstairs. I woke up Jane and Jess and left Daisy with them. I yelled at Spik to run ahead of me and get Harry and Emily. I turned around and began to run towards their room when **he** appeared at the door" tears were streaking down her face as she spoke now "he was tall and covered in a black hood. He told me 'I've already killed your husband and children. Don't make me kill you and the rest of your daughters as well. I only want the twins.' He disarmed me and took my wand. He did the same to Jane and Jess and then locked the door and left to get Harry and Emily. I screamed and tried to break the door down. I could hear him arguing with Spik who it seemed refused to move out of the way and allow him to kill Harry and Emily. I heard his curse and saw the green light reflected under the locked door. I heard the thud, I knew Spik was dead. He muttered something about how he was going to kill them both at the same time and then he said the curse, once again I saw the light and I passed out. When Jane managed to wake me up again the house seemed to have collapsed, the door was off its hinges and we managed to get out of the room. I instructed Jane and Jess to take their sisters out of the house. I ran to Harry and Emily's room. There, next to the broken crib lay Spik my faithful house elf. Next to her was a large black cloak, the same coat Voldemort had been wearing. He was gone, I realized and I turned to the bed. There was little Emily, crying softly on her brother. He was not breathing…he was dead" Lily stopped and bawled into her hands for a few minutes while Ruth patted her back awkwardly.

Frida walked in humming and carrying a blanket. Lily stopped crying and Ruth abruptly removed her hand from her granddaughter's back. "Here we go" the unknowing maid tucked the blanket around the sleeping Daisy and headed off to the kitchen "Excuse me. I'll go check on the soup tasters over there". With that she headed to the kitchen and closed the door behind her.

Lily stayed in silence for a few seconds and then turned to look at her grandmother "There's nothing left for me at the wizarding world anymore. My husband and sons are dead and if the Death Eaters find out somehow my kids destroyed Voldemort or had **something** to do with their death, they will come after Emily and try to kill her".

"What did you do Lily?" Ruth asked sitting down in the armchair once more.

"I took Harry and Emily out of the house and burned it down to ashes. I had to leave Harry there" her voice was heavy with regret "I left him where Dumbledore could find him and I burned the house and made it seem like we'd all burned inside of it. My parents died two years ago, Petunia and I don't talk…this was the only place I could think of". She looked at her grandmother with pleading eyes.

The woman met her gaze and added "I see." She stayed quite for a few minutes and said "well unfortunately you came at a bad time. I'm moving tomorrow." She pointed to the boxes around the room which Lily, until that moment, had failed to notice.

"Oh I see" Lily said. She didn't know what else to say, her mind raced with options for her and her daughters.

"Its quite inconvenient" Ruth answered coldly and Lily looked at her with disbelief "I was going to move in with my friend Kate. She lives in America and has been quite lonely since her husband died. She has asked me to move in with her at her estate. Now I suppose I can't." Lily stared confused "It'll take while to get a suitable house for all of us but I imagine Kate will let us stay with her while we find one. I'll call the airport and see if they have extra tickets, I imagine you and your girls don't mind first class?" Lily shook her head in shock. "Good" Ruth smiled slightly "Now have some soup with them and the get some rest, all of you. We have an early flight to catch tomorrow".

Lily stared tearfully at her grandmother and hugged the woman suddenly "Thank you Nan" Lily said and left to join her daughters for some soup. Ruth turned to the sleeping baby and pulled the blanket tighter around her "Anything for you, my child". She grabbed the phone and made several phone calls.

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**Well that's it for now. My Merlin that was angsty…don't worry It's not like this the **_**whole**_** story but I need to explain this Harry Potter universe. I hope you all like it. **

**Please Review**


	2. Jame's Story

**Here it is! Chapter two. Hope you all like it! I forgot to mention, I'm writing this story to replace my old story ****Everything is different**** which is why you'll probably find some similarities between the stories. I hope this one is better.**

**Random-lemon: **_lol. Yeah it's a lot of kids for little time but I think it's fun to have a whole mess of siblings. Besides James and Lily love each other too much and they lived in a time of war. War brings out feelings of survival in people and they feel the need to…erm…reproduce. I'm glad you like it, hope you like this chapter as well. Thanks for reviewing!

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James stared in shock at his house. The ministry officials were battling down the flames and everything felt extremely surreal. He had been in Dumbledore's office when Kingsley, an Order Member, auror and good friend of his, flooed in unexpectedly. He came with even more unexpected news. James nearly fell off his chair when Kingsley said "There was a report in the ministry on an appearance of the Dark Mark in a house in Godric's Hollow. It's the Potter's house, and it's on fire."

Both James and Dumbledore stood up and Kingsley turned to James "hey James" he did a double take and looked at James again "James! Thank Merlin! So there's no one in your house?" James shook his head and said "Sirius is taking care of my boys but Lily, the girls and Harry are all at the house!". Dumbledore gave James a worried look and the three of them hurried off to Godric's Hollow.

Now he stood there staring as magical flames engulfed his house, the Dark Mark staring at him from the heavens, mocking him. He lost all control and ran to the house. Ministry official held him back and he screamed "Lily! Jane! Jess! Harry! Emily!". He choked on his own tears and began to convulse. The ministry wizard let him go and he fell on the dirt. A medi wizard rushed to him but James pushed him away. He was about to try rushing once more into the house when he felt it. Some strange instinct inside him told him to run to the bushes close to his neighbor's ledge. Ministry officials ran after him, afraid he was going to do something rash. He stopped in front of the bushes. Underneath the leaves, covered in a blanket was the white body of his five year old son. James grabbed him and turned to look at his chest, he wasn't breathing. He pushed the little boy to him and began bawling uncontrollably "My boy! My little boy. I'm so sorry I wasn't here! I'm so sorry…" his voice broke as he cried. The medi wizard that had followed James took the baby from him and checked his pulse. "He's dead" James repeated with his head in his arms "They are all dead".

"He's not dead" the medi wizard declared suddenly. James stared "wha…what?"

"He still has a pulse and a magical signal. He's alive but only just. We have to take him to St. Mungos immediately".

James nodded and added "Let's go". He ran towards Dumbledore and told him they found Harry and where they were going. He made Dumbledore promise to do all he could and left with the medi wizard.

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James sat in the waiting room waiting for the nurse to tell him when he could go see his son. He struggled to keep all his thoughts on seeing his son. If his thoughts strayed to Lily, the girls or his house he would just break down. He needed to think about Harry now. He heard a door open and lifted his head in time to see a supremely dusty Dumbledore enter the waiting room. Sadness filled his usually twinkling eyes and James knew what news he'd brought. "How's Harry?" Dumbledore asked sitting next to the beat up young father.

"He's ok" James answered in a rough voice "Other than the few bruises and smoke inhalations, he's in perfect health. They're doing a final checkup and then I'm allowed to see him".

"I see" Dumbledore stayed quiet.

"What happened?" James asked rubbing his eyes.

"They're dead" the old Headmaster answered. Tears fell quickly into James face. He had been expecting this answer but that didn't make it hurt any less. "There's something else" Dumbledore added. He wasn't able to say what because at that moment the door opened once again and a ruffled looking Sirius Black and Remus Lupin entered the waiting room.

"What happened?" Sirius asked immediately. James stood up and hugged his old friend bawling "Peter betrayed us. Peter betrayed us. Lily and the girls…oh God! Sirius he killed them. He killed them!". Remus looked at his friend. James was one of the bravest and strongest men he'd ever known, so was Sirius. Here they were, two of the best aurors in the Ministry of Magic bawling like small children. Remus' eyes began swimming with tears and he turned to Dumbledore "So they really are dead?"

"Yes" the old man replied and Remus could see his eyes glazed with tears. "There's more.." but once again he was interrupted. This time a nurse exited Harry's room. James pulled away from Sirius and turned to her with pleading eyes. "He's alright. Everything checked out fine, your son will be fine." James sighed in obvious relief, behind him Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus relaxed as well "He's asleep but you can all see him if you want to".

James thanked the woman and all but ran inside the room. Harry lay in his bed softly breathing in and out. James looked at him and collapsed in a chair next to his son's bed. Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore followed. They stayed in silence for a few minutes until Sirius, who had been staring at his godson asked "What's that on his forehead?". The three other men leaned in to look and saw a small lightning shaped scar on the child's forehead. "Oh my" Dumbledore whispered. The three men turned to look at him questioningly "Well" Dumbledore said to himself "This makes things completely different". When he saw the men's stares he added "There something I've yet to mention. Lily, the girls and the house elf Spik were probably killed by Lord Voldemort himself, and their bodies have been burned to ashes in the fire. He must've come to kill Harry and Emily believing _them_ to be to whom the prophecy was referring to." Remus gave them all a questioning look and Sirius whispered to him "We'll tell you later".

Dumbledore continued "I believe Lord Voldemort is gone as well." The three friends stared at him with blank expressions "What?"

"I found a cloak in the ashes, Voldemort's cloak. The only reason to leave it there is if he could not retrieve it. My spy inside the Death Eater ranks has informed me that, according to the other Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort left for Godric's Hollow hours ago and has not returned to his ranks. Furthermore" he took a deep breath "the Death Eater marks are beginning to fade. A sign that he is gone".

James stared "Voldemort is dead?"

"Not dead, no I don't believe he's dead, though many will believe he is. This scar on Harry's forehead proves that Harry was indeed touched by a dark curse, the Avada Kedavra curse, to be specific".

Sirius looked at Harry and said "But if that's true then why isn't he dead?"

"I can only guess but…it is my understanding that Voldemort was only after young Harry and Emily, he had no intentions of killing anyone else in your family. Perhaps Lily or someone else who did not need to die placed herself in front of Voldemort and sacrificed their life to save Harry. Thus, when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on young Harry he was protected and the cursed bounced off his forehead and hit Lord Voldemort himself".

"But Voldemort did not die?" Remus asked ignoring all the other questions that were brought on by Dumbledore's explanation.

Dumbledore replied darkly "There is not enough human in him for him to die".

"So Harry here is responsible for the fall of one of the greatest evil wizards of all time?" James said in disbelief.

"It seems that way" Dumbledore nodded and smiled at Harry "I must be leaving now. The Minister of Magic will want to know what happened. Owl me if you need anything James".

James nodded, not taking his eyes off his son "Yeah Dumbledore. Thanks."

"What prophecy was Dumbledore talking about James?" Remus asked suddenly.

Grief filled James face "I'm sorry Moony old pal. We thought you were a spy for Voldemort so we never trusted you with it. Turns out the rat was the spy. Will you ever forgive us?"

"Of course" Remus nodded grimly "but tell me about it now."

It was Sirius the one who talked "Several months ago Dumbledore witnessed a prophecy being…well prophesied. It said "THE ONES WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHE...BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK THEM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT THEY WILL HAVE THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND NEITHER MUST DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...THEY WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...BOTH OF THEM MUST BE AS ONE AND TOGETHER DEFEAT OR BE DEFEATED..." The prophecy could refer to both James and Lily's twins Harry and Emily or to the Longbottoms' twins Neville and Natalie, I believe they are called. That's why James and Lily, as well as the Longbottoms, went into hiding. We didn't know who it was Voldemort was going to go after. I guess now we know. The damn prophecy was wrong too. Emily didn't make it." His voice broke and he trailed off.

All three men stayed in silence when James suddenly turned to Sirius in alarm "Where are my other sons Padfoot?"

"Oh" Sirius replied "They're ok. I left them with Samantha".

"Good" James sighed and fell back into his chair. Samantha Sanders was Sirius' fiancée and Lily's best friend from school. She's the female equivalent to Lily of what Sirius and Remus are to James…well, at least she used to be. James began to cry again "What am I going to do you guys? What am I going to tell my sons? How can I raise them without Lily? How can I live without my girls?"

Remus put a hand on James shoulder and reassured him "We'll help mate. Anything you need us to do, we'll do and we'll both stay with you for as long as you need".

"Yeah" Sirius agreed "We're here for ya Prongsie and we always will be"

"Thanks" James managed a small smile "I guess Harry'll be famous now"

"Guess so" Remus added.

"He's a tough little tyke" Sirius said while caressing the sleeping boy's head lovingly.

James contemplated all the things he had to do now. First off, tell his boys what had happened, no doubt they were all worried. Then he and Sirius had to hunt down that rat Peter and lock him up in Azkaban. And finally, he had to learn to live without Lily. Without Lily and without any of his girls. He cried as he hoped things would get better for him and his family. He had to be strong, for his boys, he turned to look at Remus and Sirius. Strong for his boys and for his men.

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**Well that's that! Next chapter WILL NOT be so angsty I promise. By the way there is no SLASH implied with the "for his men" comment. He just needed to be strong for his sons and his friends is all. Hope you are all liking it…PLEASE Review!**

**Goodnight and Good luck**


	3. Saying Goodbye at Christmas Time

**Hey! Clearing something up…the 3 oldest Potter (Adam, Jane and Jess) kids should've been at school during Halloween but with the Voldemort threat Dumbledore thought they might've been safer with their families rather than at school where they were exposed to Death Eater Slytherins/ Death Eaters teachers and corrupt school governors…etc. They had spent almost 2 weeks at home when the attack took place. **

**TDM: **_umm…thanks…_

**spedclass: **_thanks! I'm glad you liked my chapters._

**darkangledragonlover: **_Goodness you have a long name hehe. Here's the update you asked for. Thanks for your review._

**random-lemon:**_ Ahh my first reviewer. Thanks for reading my story. The slash comment was just in casa, I didn't want people to misunderstand, I'm glad you didn't though. Hope this chapter answers your question, there was a slight fast forward but still sort of in present time._

_Thank you ALL for Reviewing! Happy Christmas!_

_**Hey readers! Please review and tell me if you'd prefer to continue at this present time or fast forward to when Harry and Emily are a bit more grown up. I warn you, the next chapter is all set and they have a bit to go before meeting. Reviews appreciated.**_

**Here's Chapter 3 Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter…blah blah blah you know the drill

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Lily laughed at her daughters antics. Daisy was already two years old and dawdling around the room like and overexcited toddler. Daisy bobbled all the way to Ruth, her red curls bouncing around her chubby face as she reached her grandmother. "Nan" she said as she held her arms up, a sign for the old woman to carry her,

Frida laughed from the kitchen, cake batter spilled across her apron as she mixed it in a large metal bowl. Sitting on the marble counter next to her where the twins Erin and Annie. At only four, the two girls continued to be identical except for their hair. Both had baby blue eyes and brown hair but while Erin's hair was curly and bouncy, Annie had sleek, shiny and straight hair. They laughed as they tried to imitate Frida and mix the cake batter they had in their similar, but smaller metal bowls.

On the couch Aunt Kate laughed merrily. She was neither Lily nor the girls' aunt but that is what they called her nevertheless. Like Ruth had predicted, she'd had no problem with letting them all stay in her rather large home while they found one for themselves. At first, Lily had gotten the impression that she was a cold sort of woman. She had passion for only three things in her life: her deceased husband, high class fashion and her precious diamond collection. When they first arrived Lily had thought that she hated children and the only reason she had allowed her and her girls to move in was because Ruth had requested it. This lasted until one day Lily walked into the library and found Katherine talking to little Emily and explaining to her the different types of diamonds and the ways you could tell exactly what they were worth. Lily smiled at the old woman's laughter as she saw Emily's fascination with the shiny objects. She broke.

A couple of weeks after finding a suitable home for her and her daughters Kate made it very clear that she would not allow them to move out and so, they stayed. Lily smiled as Kate held both Emily and Amy in her laps and bounced them up and down despite the fact that at 7 and 6 years old, they were getting too big for it. Jess sat next to her mother and leaned on her shoulder. Lily hugged her thirteen year old daughter and turned to look and Jane who was sitting next to her grandmother holding one of Daisy's hands. If the events of what had happened two years ago that Halloween had affected anyone as much as they affected Lily it had been her two older girls. Jane and Jess had been 13 and 11 when it happened. And although Emily and Amy asked for their father and some of their brothers a while after the move to America, eventually they got used to not having them around. With Jane and Jess it was a completely different story.

They had been distraught after that night and it had taken the best part of two years for them to finally begin to recover. Lily had made sure they continued their interrupted education. She enrolled them in Salem's Institute of Magic right away. It was a good magical school, not Hogwarts but Lily made sure to teach them all that the Institute did not. At first she had told Aunt Kate that it was prestigious boarding school the girls had been attending. But a year after they'd moved in, at age 6, Emily began showing signs of accidental magic until they finally told Frida and Aunt Kate the truth. Unlike the expected reaction both women had been thrilled with the prospect.

"You know" Aunt Kate had said when she found out "I've always known there were witches in the world. A few years ago I had this neighbor…well one day I was over her house for lunch and headed to the kitchen to fetch some more tea, well I looked inside her cupboard and there was this huge black cauldron. I asked her what it was for…special cooking pot indeed" she sniffed significantly.

Frida on the other hand had simply asked them if witches eated anything in particular and where she could get toad skins and things like that. Lily assured her that they eat what everyone eats and left it at that.

It was late Christmas Eve and Lily noticed her girls were beginning to tire out. "Aright ladies" she said standing up "It's time to head off to bed or Santa won't bring anything by tomorrow".

"Can't we stay a while longer mum?" Emily begged putting on a puppy face. Lily sighed 'she must get that from her father' she thought. Her eyes trailed up to the lighting shaped scar on the girl's forehead as she shook her head. "I'm afraid not pumpkin" she grabbed the little girl in her arms calling her by the same nickname James used to call her.

"Please mummy please!" It was Amy who gave her the puppy face now. Lily smiled sadly. Kate noticed and said "Alright girls you heard your mother. Time for bed, all of you lot".

She grabbed Amy and Erin from the counter "You two as well. Frida will bake the cake and you can have a taste of it tomorrow". Both girls nodded sadly and Lily picked out Annie from the counter smiling as Ruth plucked Daisy from the floor. Jess took Annie from Lily and followed her grandma up the stairs. Frida disappeared inside the kitchen.

Jane came up to Lily who rubbed her short brown hair "You too missy". Jane nodded and asked "Can I owl this to Michael first?" she pointed at the small parcel in her hand "It's his Christmas present".

"Sure" Lily nodded "what did you get him?"

"A watch" Jane called back as she ran up to her mother's room to send the owl. Her mother smiled thinking 'ahh young love'. Lily walked up to the fireplace and stared at the mantle. In the center, between two very expensive silver candle holders, stood a picture of all the Girls around Lily. Nan, Kate and Frida were also in the picture that was taken last Christmas. Lily smiled at how lucky she was to have the other women help her with her daughters. Nan had helped Jess and Jane a lot when they were depressed about their father and brothers. Kate took a lot of care of all the girls, let them live in her home without asking for anything in return and had even gotten Lily a great job at a friend's fashion industry. Frida was always cooking and cleaning; making sure everything was in order and was always more than willing to take care of the girls when needed. Lily smiled as she headed upstairs to her own bedroom. She really couldn't have done it without them.

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Lily went to her room. The window was open and the owl cage was empty, which meant that Jane had used Sandy (the family owl) to send her letter. Lily closed the window and put on her white pajamas. She got her bed ready for sleep and headed out to tuck in her daughters like she did every nigh before sleep. Next to her bedroom was Emily's room. She was sleeping on her small bed, her messy black hair covering her face. Lily pushed her daughter's hair out of her face and traced her lightning scar. It wasn't until the plane was halfway to America that Lily noticed the scar. She'd taken her to the doctor but Emily was fine, so Lily left it at that, the scar simply served as a reminder for what she had lost. Emily mumbled something in her sleep and Lily smiled lovingly. She was gorgeous even without her beautiful emerald eyes showing. She kissed her on the forehead and moved on to the room across.

Daisy was lying on her crib, her red locks framing her face. 'She's getting too big for this crib' Lily though 'we'll have to get her a bed or something soon'. The next room was Erin's and Annie. Both girls were sleeping soundly on their beds. Lily closed the door and headed for Jess' room. Jessica was sitting on her bed looking at something she had in her hands. Her straight long blonde hair covered her shoulders and fell down to her waist and Lily could see tears forming I her hazel eyes.

"Hunny?" Lily walked inside "What's wrong?"

Jess' head snapped up in surprise. She tried to wipe away her tears away "nothing mum".

Lily took the frame she was holding in her hands. It was a picture of the whole family in the hospital, including Sirius and Remus. It had been taken right after Danny, Darren and Daisy had been born. Lily's eyes filled with tears as well "Hunny…where did you get this?"

"At school" she sniffed "we learned to make a memory into a picture…it doesn't move but…it was my favorite picture remember?"

"Yeah I remember" Lily nodded and gave the picture back to her daughter "Things will get better sweetheart, I promise"

Jess smiled and hugged her mother "Night mum"

"Night" Lily turned off the lights and crossed the hall and entered Jane's room.

"Hey mum" she stopped brushing her hair and turned to her mother.

"Are you all right hun?" Lily asked gently.

Jane looked sad for a moment but then smiled "Yeah. Things could be better and I obviously miss them" she answered knowing what her mother was referring to "but I don't think they would've liked me to be unhappy. Besides" she smiled goofily "Michael makes me really happy as well".

Lily smiled. Her daughter was clearly smitten with her new boyfriend. He was a nice enough boy although Lily had only met him once. "I know. Goodnight hun".

"Night mum"

Lily was about to turn off the light when a scream made her heart stop cold; it was Emily. 'Oh my God' was all Lily thought as she ran to her young daughter's room. Around her the lights turned on as the girls woke up because of the scream. She could hear Kate and Ruth scuffling around out of their bedrooms in the second floor (Lily and the girls were on the third) and a clang from the kitchen on the first floor, Frida must've heard the scream also.

Lily opened her daughters room and saw her crying, standing on top of her bed. "What's wrong Ems?" she grabbed the young girl in her arms. "What is it?" Lily asked close to hysterics. On the other room Daisy had also started screaming and Erin and Annie were both crying as well. Kate, Nan and Frida took all three girls and tried to calm them down.

Jess and Jane stood at Emily's doorway, Jane had Amy in her arms. "I fell" Emily cried.

"Where did you fall? Where hunny?"

"Down the stairs, I fell down the stairs" she sobbed.

Lily breathed relieved "It's was just a nightmare pumpkin. It was just a bad dream" she hushed her daughter.

"No mummy! Harry fell too. He fell down the stairs, he's not waking up" she cried on her mum's shoulder.

Lily's heart stopped and she looked at her daughter. From the doorway Jess gasped and covered her mouth. "What?" Lily asked Emily "He fell" she cried "He's hurt".

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It took almost four hours to calm Emily down. Lily finally had to give her a dose of a simple sleeping potion to get some rest. The next morning they all woke up at noon. Emily woke up happily. Lily thought her nightmare had been forgotten until in the middle of opening presents she ran up to her and whispered "Don't worry mum…Harry's fine. He woke up". Lily felt faint the whole day after that.

Kate's present to Emily did not help her nerves. When Emily opened the present from Aunt Kate it had been an adorable black puppy. "Padfoot!" was what Emily decided to call him. Jess disappeared into her room until dinner and did not look at the dog the whole night.

After Christmas dinner Lily lay on her bed and cried. She decided that she had to let go of the past. She was never going to forget her husband and children but for the sake of her daughters she had to focus on _them_ and not stay stuck in the past. It was time to say goodbye to James and the boys. Lily looked out her window and saw the stars "Merry Christmas guys" and with a final goodbye, she fell asleep.

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**That's that! Hope you all like it!**

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!**

**A great present would be a review (hint hint)**


	4. A Day in the Life of a Potter Boy

**OKay! Sorry it took so long but I finally updated! At the end of the chapter there is a small description of each of the Potter kids so you can all keep track. I know there's a lot of them but bear with me. Thanks to all my reviewers and readers. I hope you like this chapter as well

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Harry always stared at the stairs for a few seconds before stepping onto them, at least when he was going down

Harry always stared at the stairs for a few seconds before stepping onto them. He always hesitated, especially if he was about to go down the stairs in his house. The memory of his fall down the stairs when he was seven always made him hesitate before climbing down. It was a memory that was fresh in his mind despite the fact that he couldn't remember much of it. He couldn't ask about it either because the memory was cause for tension in his house. He knew his dad and Remus had left the house to get some Turkey for their midnight snack that Christmas night and had left Sirius in charge of the younger boys. His upbeat Godfather sent them all to sleep assuring them he would wake them up when it was time for their families midnight Turkey ritual. Instead of making sure they were asleep, as James and Remus usually did (they always checked to make sure the boys were _indeed_ asleep), he fell asleep on the couch. Harry remembered dreaming about the turkey they would soon be having and waking up. He was going to the kitchen to get to his godfather when he slipped on the carpet in the high steps and rolled down the stairs. Sirius was awakened by the screams and noises his godson made while falling down the flight of stairs and left the older boys in charge whilst he took an unconscious Harry to the hospital. Needless to say his dad and Remus panicked when they arrived in their home to find out Harry had been taken to the hospital. Their panic turned to anger once they arrived at the hospital and concluded that the fall had taken place due to Sirius' irresponsibility. The anger and panic only increased when they discovered Harry was in a state of coma, in which he remained for several hours. Harry remembered the coma as a deep sleep and he always though he could vaguely remember somebody crying and yelling for him to wake up. Somebody, that had also gotten hurt as he fell down the stairs. Harry was almost certain that if it hadn't been for that voice he wasn't sure he remembered, he would've never gotten up. When Harry finally awoke all was forgiven, but till that day, it was still not something they brought up during family dinners and the whole Midnight Turkey Tradition the Potters had every Christmas was dissolved.

Now it was nine years later, Harry was 16 years old and he was still a bit scared around stairs. It had been quite traumatic on his first day of classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when one of the castle stairs began to move while he was on it. To this day Malfoy and other foul Slytherins didn't let him forget it.

Harry arrived at the bottom of the stairs and immediately smelled breaksfast. 'Doesn't smell burned so it must be Remus doing the cooking' he thought happily. Before entering the kitchen he stole a glance at the grandfather clock next to the door and made a mental note to always make sure he set his alarm at the _right_ time. It was summer vacation and he was awake at bloody 6 o'clock in the bloody morning. He pushed the door and inside the kitchen was Remus merrily making enough pancakes to feed an army.

"Morning Remus" Harry smiled sleepily.

"Morning Harry" Remus looked up from the stove "what're you doing up this early in the morning?"

"I accidentally set up the alarm to go off way too earlier" he yawned.

Remus laughed and said "You sure it was you, cause before I went to bed yesterday your father was skulking around your room".

Harry's eyes widened "Of course! Dad did it!" his eyes filled with understanding "that old sneak! This is probably his revenge for me turning all his work robes hot pink"

"Probably" Remus eyes glittered mischievously "There's no need for you to suffer the pains of early rising on a Saturday all by yourself".

Harry grinned, understanding what Remus was talking about "Where do we keep the bucket again?"

James was in heaven. He in some kind of beautiful prairie filled with luscious green trees and bright grass. He was lying next to a tall waterfall that fell loudly into the lake bellow it, the water spraying his sleeping face gently every once in a while. The meadow was filled with butterflies and deer. This must be the place Remus is talking about when he rambles about how he is leaving to his 'happy place'. He opened his eyes and moved his head left to look at the rumbling waterfall. 'What the...' was his last thought as he saw the waterfall defy gravity and head straight towards him.

James bolted up and spluttered water from his mouth. He was in his bed with his crimson pajamas and his face, hair and upper torso were covered in water. Next to him Harry was standing with a large bucket "Morning dad" the teenager smiled proudly. James immediately understood, this was revenge for the little alarm trick he'd pulled on Harry. That still didn't make him any less angry.

"Harry!" he half yelled getting out from under the covers and making out to chase his son. He followed him down the stairs and around the whole first floor. When he finally caught him he pinned him down to the sofa, held him in a head lock, soaked him with the water dripping from his shirt and hair and made him say uncle.

Remus laughed at the two and then smiled at the stairs. Their yells had woken up the whole house. 'Good' Remus thought 'Now the breakfast won't get cold'.

Sirius was the first to come down the steps, keeping a disgruntled Danny behind him and his wand pointed ahead. "What's going on?" he asked looking alert.

"Nothing" Remus pushed his wand down "Harry just woke Prongs up with a bucket of coldwater".

Sirius face immediately went drowsy again and he mumbled "Why do they have to make us _all_ suffer?" he headed toward the kitchen. Remus rolled his eyes 'Only the Best for the Ministry' he repeated the Aurors' motto at the ministry of magic in his head while he led a sleepy Danny towards the kitchen.

He continued to cook the pancakes as the grumpy newly awoken Potters and Sirius set up the table. He smiled to himself and recognized for the thousandth time how lucky to have such a great friend like James. After Lily died Sirius and Remus stayed with James and the boys in the Potter Manor and helped them adjust and James had never asked them to leave. Remus was a werewolf so it was extremely difficult for him to find a job, the new restrictions being passed by the pink wench at the Ministry of Magic did not help this matter. With James and Sirius being elite and well paid Aurors in the Ministry (not to mention sole heirs to large family fortunes) , they took care of most of the finances while Remus took care of most of the household chores like cooking, cleaning and most of the pre Hogwarts education of the younger Potter boys. Remus was even Godfather of some of James sons: Charlie, Rick and Darren.

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James pushed Harry off him and got up from the couch. Harry headed to the kitchen and offered to help Remus finish the pancakes. James smiled, besides Remus, Harry was the only on in the house who could really cook. Rick made some good meals, even though he was just 13 years old, but not as good as Harry and Remus together. He laughed at Sirius sleeping on the table and was about to wake him up in a not so gentle manner when a knock came from the front door. Jake answered it and quickly disappeared under a hug from James's older sons.

Adam, his oldest son, was already 24 years old. He was tall and well built. His long-ish black hair and light blue eyes gave him a professional look which served him when working with the Gringott goblins as an accountant. Adam _was_ a Potter so he was a bit of a jokester but he was more on the serious side. James always thought he'd gotten that from his mother…or from Remus. He lived with his brother Charlie, James second son.

Like his fiery red hair Charlie was very loud, happy and a total prankster. They fought a lot but you couldn't find any closer brothers and friends. All the Potters were like that really. Good looking and cocky but loyal and true Gryffindors all the way. Charlie came in after Adam, carrying a large bag of something and James sincerely hoped that he hadn't gotten another year's free supply of dungbombs like last year. It had taken them two days to detonate all the stink bombs and five months to completely get rid of the smell. There were still some parts corners of the house that stunk.

At the sight of the older Potters the rest of the mangy lot headed over to greet them. Charlie dropped his bag as he was engulfed in a wave of younger brothers.

"Watcha got there for us Charlie?" Danny asked trying to peek into the bag as Darren held Charlie's head down on the floor.

"Just something from the shop" Charlie laughed as he pushed Rick off him.

"What is it?" Jake- James' now 14 year old son- headed toward the bag now that he'd finally been released from Adam's embrace.

Danny spilled the bag over on the floor and a lot of broom shaped quills spilled out of the bag. "Quills?" Harry laughed next to Sirius who was still asleep on the table "Where are the dungbombs?"

"Are you kidding?" Remus called from the kitchen "This place _still_ smells"

Danny laughed and grabbed some quills "These for us? We could sure use some for Hogwarts this year. Got the letter just yesterday see?" he pointed to him and his twin brother.

"Of course" Charlie replied "I brought them for you guys" he smiled at the smaller redhead.

Adam grabbed Darry in a headlock "You both got your letters then?"

Darren wheezed a "yes" from in between Adam's arms before he punched his brother in the stomach, forcing him to release his grip "It's official" he laughed "no squibs in the family".

"I don't know about that" Sirius replied having finally getting up from the table "Your dad's a real bad spell caster, might have a bit of squib in him. Why just last week in Auror practice he burned his own eyebrows trying to unlock a door". A bit of fire flew by him as he said this and he jumped on the table trying to avoid James attacks.

"Enough" Remus yelled "You keep it up and you get no breakfast". That shut them up and all the Potters made room for Charlie and Adam who happily joined them in breakfast before they headed off to work.

After breakfast Harry excused himself to write a letter to his best friend Ron Weasly, Jake left to go look over some Quiddictch strategies, Rick headed to read a book he'd gotten the week before from Hagrid titled _Magical Beasts and Mangled Body Part cures_ while Darren and Danny went to repack their trunks for Hogwarts, leaving the oldest Potter brothers and adults to talk.

"So is it true?" Adam asked cutting straight to the chase while they were alone "What they are accusing Jason Webb of?"

"Seems that way" Sirius replied, his eyes that had been so cheery during breakfast turned stone cold.

"Seems hard to believe" Charlie said "He was a good friend of mom's in school and a valuable member of the Order; I can't believe he was a Death Eater all along".

"He claims he was a spy. That the opportunity to become a spy rose too quickly and he had no time to inform Dumbledore about it".

"Seems fishy to me" Remus said "But Sam seems to believe him".

"She's just in denial. Besides Lily, he was her best friend during school, so of course she'll say she believes him". Sirius spoke annoyed.

"He's saying the only person who knew about him being a spy was Lily and Frank Longbottom. Neither of them can testify which I see as awfully convenient. Smells like bullshit to me". Adam and Charlie stared at their father for a few seconds- he really had no patience for Death Eaters and traitors- not that they could blame him of course.

"Tomorrow is the last day" Sirius interrupted- his tone of voice clearly stating that he shared James' views about traitors "If he cannot provide evidence of his supposed innocence, he is going straight to Azkaban".

Remus opened his mouth to say something when Darren busted into the room. He ran with his Hogwarts' shopping list and ran towards his older brothers asking them if they could take him shopping for his school supplies. The tension in the room went unnoticed by the young boy. Adam gave his father one last look and knew that this conversation was over. He shared a look with Charlie before looking over Darren's letter.

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**OK! So I know Lily and James have a LOT of children and I want you all to have a clear image of them but I can't fit it all into the story so I'm going to talk a bit about each here: (They were born in this order and this is their age in the present)**

**Adam Richard Potter******24 years old/ longish straight black hair and light blue eyes/ 5'10" and well built/works as an accountant for Gringotts/ lives with Charlie/ named after James' father Richard Potter

**Jane Elizabeth Potter******23 year old/ straight light brown hair (up to shoulders) and blue eyes/5'7" and skinny/ works as a freelance writer for several newspapers (muggle and wizards alike)/ married at 17 and widowed at 19/ has a 3 year old daughter called Rachel Marie Potter

**Jessica Marie Potter******21 year old/ long straight blonde hair and blue eyes/5'9" and very skinny/ works part time as a model while trying to open her own shop with her own line of clothes

**Charlie Andrew Potter******20 year old/short thick red hair, blue eyes and freckles/ 6'3 and lean/works in a quidditch shop in Hogsmeade while trying to make it was a professional quidditch player (position: keeper)/a bit of a player (with girls) funny, loud and enthusiastic

**Harry James Potter and Emily Anne Potter******

**Harry: **16 year old/ looks exactly like James except for Lily's green eyes/ 5'6" and lean/doesn't wear glasses because they are hazardous when playing pranks and playing quidditch (contacts)/youngest seeker in a century/ lighting shaped scar on right side of forehead/good at Quidditch and DADA. Likes to play guitar and sing

**Emily:** 16 year old/ looks exactly like Lily (including green eyes) except for messy/ curly black hair/5'5" and skinny/chaser in quidditch/ good at Transfiguration and DADA. Likes to play instruments and sing/dance. Fights the most with her mother.

**Amanda Lee Potter******15 years old/ looks exactly like Lily with thicker and curlier red hair/ 5'5'' and skinny/ Good at potions and chemistry/ wants to open a fragrance line/ loves fashion and clothes—people think she's ditzy but is actually really smart.

**Jake Sirius Potter******14 years old/ looks like a smaller version of Harry but with blue eyes/ looks up to his brother and likes Quidditch as well/ more centered than Harry-has been with current girlfriend Lindsay for a year/ 5'3''

**Rick Remus, Erin Lauren and Annie Katherine Potter******triplets

**Rick Remus Potter****** 13 years old/ brown hair and blue eyes/ smart and quieter than the rest of his brothers/ 5'6'' likes History of Magic/ Good friends with Hagrid/ no particular interest in Quidditch other than recreational

**Erin Lauren Potter******13 years old/ curly brown hair and blue eyes/ exuberant and loud/ loves quidditch and playing pranks/ 5'3''/ tan from playing in the sun/ likes arithmancy and runes

**Annie Katherine Potter****** 13 years old/ straight brown hair with blue eyes/ quiet and reserved/loves astronomy and photography/ 5'3'' loves her sister despite being so different.

**Darren Nicholas, Daniel Anthony and Daisy Duke Potter******

**Darren Nicholas Potter******11 years old / messy red hair and blue eyes/ hyper and funny/ loves jokes and hiding places/ likes hands-on sports/

**Daniel Anthony Potter******11 years old/ messy red hair and blue eyes/ fun and smart/ likes to collect rocks and running (like on a track team)

**Daisy Duke Potter******11 years old/ curly red hair and blue eyes/ cute and dangerous/ has confident attitude with relatively good heart/ loves to tell stories and can lie her ass off/ has cutest dimples in the world and loves to sing and dance/ admires older sister Emily. Closest to their mother.


	5. Trial and Error and Unexpected Surprise

Chapter 5

**The blaring alarm clock woke Sirius up from his deep sleep. He turned it off with his hand and spent a few minutes lying on the bed wondering why he'd woken up feeling so forlorn. After a few seconds he remembered that today was Jason's final hearing.**

**Sirius laid there remembering how he had never really liked Jason during school. Jason Webb had been a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts in the same year Sirius and his friends had been there. In between his rising popularity and selfish and conceited life style he'd never really noticed the boy until fifth year. It was around that time that James, Sirius' best friend, had started making an ass of himself to win the affection of the girl who later became his wife, Lily Evans. Around that time, Sirius started paying attention to Lily's Gryffindor best friend, Samantha Wylder. She was a fiery, black-haired and purpled-eyed beauty that would not give him the time of day. She drove him crazy and was an undeniable pain in his buttocks. She also became the first and last girl he ever loved. **

**He recalled the time they dated during Hogwarts, as the happiest in his life. After school, James and Lily got married and started spouting out a bunch of babies of whom quite a few were Sirius' godchildren. Samantha Wylder and him were engaged to be married until that fateful night on Halloween when Lily and all her daughters were murdered. The loss of one of their best friends and her children hit both of them hard and Sirius dedicated all of his time to helping James get his act together and take care of his remaining sons. Sam, on the other hand, had just lost her sister and brother-in-law and was raising their twin boy and girl children. The strain on the relationship broke them up in a couple of months. Despite everything, they remained friends (sorta) and Sam and Jason became the only link besides his sons that James had to Lily, so he invited him for family events a lot.**

**During his Hogwarts years, Sirius had never really liked the young awkward gay boy that Jason used to be, but during the war, Jason had proven himself to be a brave friend. That was until they found out about his Death Eater past. Sirius couldn't remember ever seeing James angrier than he did when he found out the news. Sirius, who had taken a liking to Webb through the years found it all a bit too hard to believe. But then again, he was no judge of character when it had been their best friend for seven years, Peter Pettigrew, who had betrayed Lily and her daughters' lives to Voldemort.**

**Sirius pushed his naked body out of bed and headed for the shower. He dressed in business black wizard's robes and headed downstairs for breakfast. Remus, James, Adam and Charlie were already sitting around the table having breakfast. They all bade good morning to him when he approached and kept eating their food silently. The gloom at the table was impossible to miss. Remus and James would be going to the hearing as well, so they too were wearing black robes. Adam and Charlie, on the other hand, had gotten up early to baby-sit the boys and had casual shirts and pants on.**

**Sirius smiled a bit as he served himself breakfast, thinking how James' sons had become the most important people to him in the world. Sirius had been around for pretty much all the family occasions as the kids were growing up and when Lily died, he and Remus moved in to help James raise them. Adam and Charlie were no longer children and Sirius always thought that they'd stopped being children they day their mother died. They had been the oldest and had been a fine example to their younger brothers throughout the whole ordeal.**

**Sirius knew he wasn't supposed to but he did have a favorite. He'd always favored Emily and Harry slightly. Sirius wasn't sure why but somehow he'd felt and immediate connection to them when they were born- the fact that he was their godfather also helped. His favor of Harry probably increased after Emily's death. Harry had been with them during the attack and was the only survivor. More than that, he became the reason of the end of Voldemort and his reign of terror and became famous among the wizarding world as the Boy Who Lived. **

**Which is why Sirius nearly had a heart attack the night Harry fell down a flight of stairs and injured himself into a coma for several hours. James and Remus had been furious and Sirius still remembered Harry's first words to him after he'd woken up from the coma. "I had to wake up Padfoot" a young Harry had whispered in his godfather's ear "I had to wake up because Emily was calling me."**

**Sirius had stood shock frozen solid at his godchild's words and decided against repeating them ever again. It was something that, Sirius was glad, Harry never brought up again or told anyone else. Very much like Sirius favored Harry, Harry seemed to favor Sirius in return. The Potter Manor was an eternal prank zone and Harry and Sirius were almost always a team. They usually teamed up against Jake and James. Jake was a two year younger version of Harry with blue eyes and a passion for quidditch that according to Harry 'defied Oliver Wood's'…whoever that is.**

**Rick, who was thirteen at the time, always reminded Sirius of Remus during his younger years. He had love for strange magical creatures and had a disturbingly close relationship with Hogwarts Groundskeeper, Hagrid. Hagrid was a great guy, loved by all in the Potter home but his mentorship to Rick made way for some rather bizarre moments in the household. Like the time when the half dragon half sphinx mutant breed had made home in the house's second floor bathroom and refused to let anyone shower who did not answer its riddle and burned whoever needed the toilet.**

**Finally there was Darren and Danny, the youngest of the Potter boys. The fiery red haired twins reminded Sirius much too much of younger versions of the Weasly twins, Fred and George. Although Danny was the more hyper of the two, both boys had personalities almost as similar as their looks and were wickedly difficult to tell apart when they were in a playful mood. Only James and Charlie could always tell who was who. As he finished his pancakes Sirius forced his thoughts to wander away from the Potter girls and stopped himself from imagining what would have become of them if they had not been killed at such a young age. 'A lot' he though quietly 'that's for sure'.**

**After breakfast, Sirius and his two old friends, made their way down to the Ministry of Magic. The trial would be held open for public view of those related to the case and would be held in front of the entire Wizengamonts. Sirius tried not to think about how Jason must've been feeling. They arrived at the floor where the trial was going to be held and Sirius glanced around. The place was littered with stray witches and wizards who were consulting quietly amongst one another. Sirius recognized most of them and greeted a few nearby him. The atmosphere was tense, as it always was when dealing with something like this. In a corner of the room, James and Remus were speaking to head auror Kingsley. Sirius was about to make his way to them when a small hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. Sirius knew who the hand belonged to without turning around from the way his body filled with goosebumps.**

"**Hello Sam" Sirius greeted his ex-fiancé warily.**

"**Sirius please" she replied, her eyes wild and red from crying "You need to say something. Jason didn't do it Sirius…he would never. If he says he was a spy…"**

"**Sam come on" Sirius said losing patience with her and being jolted by a weird feeling at the pit of his stomach "You fought in this war, you're not **_**that**_** naïve right? He's lying of course." Sirius spoke in the same secure way as James although he was not quite sure how much he believed his own words.**

"**Yes but…" she stuttered.**

**Sirius looked at her and his heart contracted. She was usually a strong, independent and mind numbingly stubborn woman but at the moment, she looked like a vulnerable defenseless girl who had spent the last several months crying herself to sleep and was desperately clinging to her last memory of Lily.**

"**Come on Sam" he put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "He fooled us all. But losing him doesn't mean losing Lily again."**

"**Yes it does Sirius" she finally looked at him with tear filled eyes and a look of absolute hopelessness "yes it does."**

**Sirius watched her walk away sadly before turning to join his friends inside the chamber where the trial would be held. He let his mind wander for a few seconds and thought about how pretty Sam looked when she cried.**

**Trial**

The whole Wizengamonts stood before Jason Webb as a very intimidating crowd- Dumbledore included. The spectators watched from a filled balcony atop the chambers. Amanda Bones stood stern-faced in the middle of the crowd, facing Jason. "We are here for the final submission of evidence in the case of the Ministry of Magic versus Wizard Jason Webb. Mr. Webb is accused of treason, betrayal, Death Eater activity and of all other actions that fall under these here categories. For the record, the accused pleads…?"

"Innocent." Webb's voice cracked slightly and made Sirius flinch. At the first trial Webb had seemed unflinchingly determined of his own innocence but as the trials extended his conviction was faltering and fear had already started to seep through. Sirius stole a glance toward Sam who was nodding encouragingly at Jason. Her eyes, however, were hopeless.

"And the evidence?" Amanda asked again.

Kathleen Turner spoke up as Jason's defense attorney "We have already submitted the documentary evidence…"

"Your own client's will is not enough evidence Miss Turner." Amanda replied.

Kathleen continued talking "The only other people beside my client who knew about his spy activities were Lily Evans and Frank Longbottom."

"Yes and we've all concluded that it is mighty convenient since neither of those witnesses is available to testify." Minister Fudge spoke up from a corner of the room.

"As and Unspeakable, auror Lily Evans had the ability to open up an espionage operation along with another unspeakable auror's knowledge…in this case, auror Frank Longbottom."

"True" Amanda said "but we need the evidence."

"We request permission to submit Mr. Frank Longbottom's statement on this issue." Kathleen pushed.

"I have to go" James said suddenly and left the room. Remus and Sirius shared a glance but said nothing as James walked out of the chamber.

"Certainly not" Amanda Bones spoke up.

"Mr. Longbottom is in no condition to make any statement." Dumbledore's voice boomed around the room "nor is Mrs. Longbottom as we all know perfectly well. We've been over this for several months already and unless you have any concrete evidence I'm afraid this has all been a waste of our time." his gazed hardened over Jason "Treachery is not permissible."

"Yes but…" Kathleen stuttered for the first time. I couldn't blame her though, Dumbledore was an intimidating man.

"If there is no more evidence of an espionage operation, Wizengamonts has no other choice than to declare Mr. Jason Webb guilty of treason…" Amanda began to speak.

"I have evidence of the espionage operation and Mr. Webb's involvement in it" a woman's voice sounded in the room. Sirius peeked down the balcony and saw a hooded figure enter the room, briefcase in hand. The whole room began mumbling and Remus whispered "Who the hell is that?" next to Sirius. Sirius wondered the same thing himself.

Amanda Bones threw her a dark look and asked "And you would be?"

The woman stopped next to Webb and whispered something in his ear. Instead of looking relieved, he looked terrified- as if he's seen a ghost. Kathleen looked surprised and stared at the woman curiously.

"State your name please." Amanda's voice was stern and it was clear she was losing her patience.

The woman in the hood straightened up from the recoiled Jason and turned to face Wizengamonts. She raised her hood and revealed her face. "My name is Lily Evans. I'm an ex-unspeakable auror plus creator and head of Mr. Webb's entire espionage operation. I have all the evidence in this briefcase."

The room stayed quiet for several seconds as people stared at the woman claiming to be Lily. She certainly looked like Lily with her long red wavy hair and light green eyes that Harry had inherited. Still she looked different. Slightly older, more mature and weather-worn. Identical to what Lily would've looked like if she was still alive.

A sudden stream of rage overtook Sirius and he charged down the stairs at her. "You can't be Lily" he half screamed, half gasped "Lily is dead.".

The expression on her face was shocked look that was probably identical to Sirius' own face. She looked exactly like Lily. "Merlin's beard Sirius. I though you were dead. If I'd known you'd survived I would've taken you with us. I had to leave, ut was for the girls. I faked our death in order to protect them."

Sirius was stumped, although his blood boiled a bit beneath his skin at the mention of the girls. Sirius was about to say something when a yell from the balcony beat him to it. It was Remus screaming "Don't LIE!" and looking angrier than Sirius had ever seen him.

"Remus…" the woman started speaking up again.

"Bullshit!" Sam screamed as she walked towards them and slapped Jason "This is low! I hope you rot in Azkaban you sick demented bastard!"

The whole room went in an uproar as witches and wizards everywhere began yelling and even running away. The woman looked surprised at the whole mess and gave Sirius a confused look. He looked her directly in the eyes and that's when he realized who he was talking to.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's voice cut through the noise and froze the gaggle of witches and wizards running around, reminding Sirius of a Halloween night during his third year at Hogwarts- involving a pudding explosion and twenty dozen white mice.

In the silence, the chamber doors opened but nobody paid it any mind as all eyes were glued on Dumbledore. He stared at Sirius and the woman for a bit until a surprised voice cracked through the silence. "Lily?". Sirius flinched recognizing the voice immediately. James was back.


	6. Caught Between the Past and Present

**I know! It took me a million gazillion years but I finally updated. Thanks to my reviewers and all who read this.**

**BLOOPER: In the first chapter Lily refers to Rick as Ruben...Ruben and Rick are the same person. I will continue calling him Rick ( he is 13 years old and the triplet of Annie and Erin).**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter...do own his sister Emily :D**

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Lily felt like crying while she waited anxiously in what appeared to be the Minister of Magic's office. _What the hell just happened?_ It had taken her weeks to decide whether or not to risk exposure to save Jason from Azkaban. She knew her life would immediately change the moment she revealed that she and her daughters were still alive. She'd gone over what to say when she had to explain what had happened _that night_ and she knew she would most likely be facing the wrath of Remus and Sam (not Sirius since he was supposed to be with James when he'd died…or when she thought he'd died). She had not, however, expected this.

James was there…or someone who looked exactly like him. Polyjuice Potion seemed like an unlikely possibility since no one knew she'd be arriving that day. Still, it couldn't possibly be James. She knew it wasn't James that there was no chance that it could be him except that…it was. She'd known it the moment their eyes met. She'd looked into his eyes for those few seconds and immediately she spotted him. It was the same intense blue eyes of the men she'd fallen in love with and married, she'd even spotted the silver flecks that used to appear around his iris when he was happy or scared or…_passionate._ Lily was scolding herself for blushing at a memory when the door banged open and the pissed off figure of Albus Dumbledore walked in. Lily had seen him in this state many times before, in battle back when she belonged in the Order of the Phoenix, but never had she felt this resounding wave of anger and raw power directed at her. It was all she could do not to break down and cry. Sirius walked in looking confused and upset.

"We are here to find out the truth and verify if you are or are not in fact, Lily Potter." Dumbledore's voice resounded around the room as Sirius quietly closed the door behind them.

* * *

James stared at Sirius as his best friend cried and told him and Remus the news. According to him and Dumbledore, the woman was indeed Lily. James couldn't believe it and yet he could. One look at her eyes, identical to Harry and Darren and Daniel's told him the thruth. It had been his wife in that courtroom, she was alive. He stared quietly at Dumbledore as he retold the story Lily had told him, explaining to them what had happened that fateful Halloween night so many years ago and what Lily had done since then. Doubt left him as heard Dumbledore speak. _They're alive_, James eyes filled with tears as he thought of his daughters and for the first time in eleven years, the tears that fell, were happy tears. He need to see them, he decided, he would speak to Lily then.

* * *

It had taken a while to convince Lily to take him back home with her. The Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore had decided to send an auror back with her for protection while she went and fetched the girls so why not him? James clenched his hand in nervousness. He pushed back his first class airplane seat, still slightly queasy about the idea of flying without magic inside a giant metal plane and turned to Lily for the umpteenth time,"Do you think they'll like me?"

Lily, who had been trying to sleep grunted and turned to James to give him a kiss on the cheek. The moment they'd confirmed they were truly each other, they had wasted no time and embraced passionately deciding to pick up were they had left off. Lily had seen Adam and Charlie but not the rest of her sons. She wanted to cry when she saw them. They were so big and strong, her little boys had turned to men and she had missed it. Still, when they saw her they'd both hugged her with no awkwardness and bawled like children. Adam couldn't speak between gasp and Charlie kept saying "Mum, mum, mum" in between tears.

"My boys" was all Lily had cried as she hugged them, never wanting to let go.

She'd wanted to see the rest of her sons, especially when she found out Harry had been alive when she'd left him but the stories of her returned had spread faster than Fiend Fyre and she was afraid her daughter's, who were alone with three oblivious muggles, were at risk. So they wouldn't be tracked, she and James had decided to travel there the muggle way instead of by apparating or portkey. Now while Lily had her first opportunity of sleep in two days, James wouldn't stop talking.

"Yes James, they'll love you I'm sure." She repeated once again.

"They know I'm coming right? They know I'm alive? What did they say when you told them?" he rambled.

"I spoke to Jane and Jessica. They're surprised but happy of course. They told their sisters I believe but I don't know what their reaction was. Now James, can you please let me sleep?"

James gave her the loving smile she had missed so much and nodded. She curled back down under her blanket when she felt James hands sneak under it. He rubbed her thigh and whispered in her ear "Wasn't airplane bathroom sex on your list of fantasies?"

Lily immediately got wet and looked up at James. "It was" she mumbled against his warm lips. She felt his hands move up and she quickly stood up and headed to the

bathroom. James waited a several seconds and then followed.

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**Next Chapter: coming soon!!**


	7. The daughter's of James

**Soooo This was really hard to write. I didn't want it to sound too mushy but I think it does anyway. Well whatever, hope you enjoy it anyhow. I hope you are all starting to get a hang of all the siblings. Soon enough I'm going to start focusing on Harry and Emily POVs only but eventually the other's storylines will seep through. Please Read and Review. 3**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or anything else you recognize.**

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Emily stared as her sisters hurried around their house, Frida, Ruth and Aunt Kate in toll, dressing thems and cleaning everything in sight. Delicious smells emerged from the kitchen and girls everywhere struggled to find a free mirror to inspect themselves with because in just a couple of hours they were going to meet their dad. When Jane and Jess sat them all down to talk the night before and told them about how their father and brothers were alive and well, if it hadn't been for their incessant happy sobbing while they spoke, Emily wouldn't have believed them. After eleven years of getting over their deaths and learning to let them go, they had had one day to process the fact that they'd been alive all along and hours to get ready for meeting their father. Chaos couldn't begin to describe what was happening in the Evans household.

Erin and Annie were staring at themselves in a mirror in the hall. Erin was trying to straighten out her curly brown locks while Anne was trying to make her limp hair look livelier. Jess passed by and told them not mess with their hair because, since they were identical to the very last detail, it was the only identifying marker _dad_ would have to distinguish them. This got them to stop and head off to the kitchen to help Frida with supper. Jess turned around to spot Emily standing there with her un-brushed hair and un-made-up face in her frumpy flannel pajamas. She frowned slightly "What's wrong Em? You're not sure what to wear?"

Emily gave her a blank stare and said "I don't remember him. How am I supposed to be sure he is my father?"

"You'll have to take mom, Jane's and my word for it I suppose." Jess said kindly. Emily looked at her flashy sister wearing a simple sleek violet dress with her usually loose hair done up in a soft bun and sighed. "You look nice Jess."

Jess beamed "You think so? Thanks Emily. Now please hurry and change. Mom called and said they'd land in half an hour."

Nodding Emily headed for her room and changed all the while wondering if her sisters realized what she had a night ago when she found out she had a father; that their lives were about to change forever and despite her sisters' enthusiasm, things might not go as smoothly as everybody seemed to think.

* * *

When James walked through the door the first hug he received was from Jessica. The adorable blonde eleven year old girl that had demanded a party in celebration of the arrival of her Hogwart's letter was long gone and in her place was a tall beautiful woman. She was almost as tall as James and even skinnier than Jake's 14 year old girlfriend. Her smile was identical to Lily's and when she beamed it at him crying "Dad" James felt his knees give out. Jane quickly ran forward and joined in on the hug. James thought back to the women he'd ever met in his life and couldn't think of a single one that was more beautiful than his daughters. The emotional embrace with kisses, tears and muffled "I missed you"s were exchange lasted several minutes. The rest of the Evans sisters watched the exchange quietly with jealousy and awkwardness, for none of them remembered their father as well as their elder sisters did. Lily, who had been silently crying through the exchange, started to introduce James to the rest of his daughter's. Jane and Jess broke the embrace but held on to their father's arm and turned to stare at their sister beaming.

James couldn't believe it. These were his daughter's and they were all so…_pretty_. Most of them looked exactly like Lily but he could also see traces of himself and even of his sons in them. He looked at the smallest of the girls. It was like looking back in time to Lily on her first year in Hogwarts. She had Lily's face, small bones, skninny ankles and identical soft red hair. The only non-Lily feature on her were his blue eyes. She was Darren and Daniel's triplet and she'd only been a year old last time he saw her.

"Daisy." He croaked and fresh tears fell down his face again.

Daisy large blue eyes opened wide in alarm at being addressed at and she stared quietly at the man who was her father. "So…you're my dad?"

"Yes." James said after taking a deep breath in an intent to compose himself.

Daisy stared curiously and nodded "I didn't know guys cried so much."

"Daisy!" Lily scolded from behind but her sisters chuckled around her and let out a bark of laughter. Once her dad started laughing, Daisy started crying herself and ran up to him yelling "Dad!"

Their embrace was even more emotional than Jane and Jess´ and once again, everybody cried (well, the same people that were crying before). James, still holding Daisy in his arms, turned to Annie and Erin and couldn't help but smile at how adorable they were. They were identical brown haired blue eyed cuties except that one had curly hair and one had straight hair…just like when they were born.

"You know" he said "your brother Rick looks just a lot like you."

"Hi" Annie spoke up "I'm the quiet one." _Like Remus _James thought.

"And I'm Erin" Erin said beside her sister "I'm the loud exuberant one." She grinned cockily. _And here is Sirius…or me_ James smiled inwardly.

"Hello" James said "I'm the dad." The gave him an awkward hug that still felt perfect to James.

He turned to the last two. He turned face to face to who he knew was Amanda Lee. Amy had grown up to look almost exactly like Lily but she had his nose and eyebrows. Her hair was as fiery red as Lily's but instead of the silky mane Lily and Daisy had, Amy's hair cascaded in perfect curls around her heart shaped face. She was dressed in an ocean green dress that looked beautiful with her hair and makeup that hid, James was certain, the explosion of freckles she'd had on her face since she'd been born. He smiled and moved in to hug her when she stretched her hand in front of herself. Surprised but willing, James shook the hand of the daughter he hadn't seen since she was four years old. Finally he turned to the last daughter left and he knew exactly who it was.

Emily was the only daughter that had inherited his messy black hair. He had to stop himself from smiling when he looked at her. Where Harry was the identical picture of himself when he was younger but with Lily's eyes; Emily seemed to be the identical to Lily but with James messy black hair. She stood there with her arms crossed wearing a black skirts, a white shirt and large leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Her messy black locks fell past her mid back and bangs covered the upper part of her emerald green eyes. Her pose was the image of defiance and although she looked nothing like him, James swore he could almost see Harry staring right back at him through her eyes.

"Emily" he smiled.

"Hey" she said and made no move to get closer to him.

"Emily…" Jess started from behind them but Emily spoke first "Look, I'm really happy your alive and everything, I promise I am but I can't hug you just yet. It's nothing personal, I just can't."

James smiled and nodded "Of course, I understand."

"You're better looking than I thought you'd be, especially for a grown man who wears glasses." She said studying him.

Once again, James laughed. "I am aren't I?"

Emily and Amy gave each other a look before smiling and nodding. James thought that although he hadn't got their approval just yet, he was already on the right track. With Daisy still holding his arm, he turned to Lily's grandmother who he had just now noticed. "Hello Ruth, It's good to see you again."

"Hello James" she replied coldly "Shouldn't we be leaving already? Aren't there people coming after us?"

"Who's coming after us?" Amy asked confused.

James and Lily exchanged a look and James said "The press. Lily Evans and her daughter's alive all these years is pretty big news."

"Why do they care? Emily asked confused" It's not like we're famous or anything." This time no one looked her in the eye and Kate said from her corner "You're already packed. Make haste and go."


	8. Brought Together

**Tadaaaa! 0k so you get to see a bit of Harry and Ron interaction and I thought the meeting with James and the girls was nice but too mushy for me so I'm doing the big one through an outside character. Tell me what you think of the characters so far. 3 REVIEWWW!!!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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The surprised face of Molly Weasly came into view as Harry stepped through the green flames, out of their fireplace and into the Weasly's home. "Oh Harry dear, you gave me a fright." Mrs. Weasly said, clutching her chest with her right hand and a laundry basket with her left.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasly" Harry beamed his most charming smile at her "Ron knew I was coming, he should've told you."

Mrs. Weasly blushed, like most women do when hit with a smile from a Potter, and said "Oh don't worry about it dear. Ron is in his room, please go right ahead."

Harry nodded and turned to go up the stairs leading to the bedrooms. He walked slowly for his fear of stairs and halfway up, he found himself face to face with Ginny Weasly. She looked beautiful with her loose shirt and jeans, her red hair wet- indicating she'd just stepped out of the shower. "Hey Ginny." He smiled at her.

"Oh" her face changed from surprised, to annoyed, to a forced polite smile in seconds "Hi Harry." She passed next to him, avoiding touching him when he turned to her and asked "Want to go out with me Ginny?"

Without missing a beat she sighed and replied "No Harry."

"You know you want me!" he half shouted at her retreating back. When he turned back he almost fell down the stairs. Ron was standing one step in front of him with his arms crossed and wearing a scowl "Oy Potter! Stop hitting on my sister."

"Not hitting on her, just asking her out." Harry said, earning himself a punch on the shoulder.

"_Dude_, no horsing around on stairs." Harry said shakily while Ron laughed.

"So what's up mate? Why are you here?" Ron asked. Harry's happy smile changed into a pained look and he said "Nothing. Can't a guy spend some quality time with his best friend?"

Ron gave him a disbelieving look "Hermione wrote to your brother. He said your mom and sisters are arriving today. That wouldn't have anything to do with you being here would it?"

"No" Harry snapped back "but if you don't want me here then I could just leave." He moved to turn around but was stopped by Ron's hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, come on. It's your mom and sisters. After all these years of thinking they were dead, they are alive and you're finally going to meet them. It's alright to be scared but it's not alright to run away."

Harry raised his eyebrows at this, "Hermione told you to tell me that?"

Ron smiled and nodded "Yeah, and it took me almost half an hour to memorize the whole thing, hands gestures and all, so you better do as I say."

Harry chuckled and feeling slightly better headed back to the fireplace to the Potter Manor.

* * *

Sirius was steaming as he ordered the boys to go in groups of four down the magical phone booth that took you to the Ministry of Magic. The boys were nervous enough as it was, some of them had even tried to comb their hair for Merlin's sake- and now they had to have their big meeting in front of the whole Ministry…well maybe not the _whole _Ministry but rather the Minister but still, that was plenty bad. That pathetic Fudge was trying to milk this whole thing as much as he could…he'd always tried to use the 'Boy Who Lived' and his family as a publicity stunt but this was a new low. Even Dumbledore, who had always been rather patient with Fudge, was upset at his outrageous decision. Remus went down with the youngest Potters and finally all that were left were Sirius and Harry. Sirius turned to his godson and gave him a toothy smile which Harry returned with a small grin and a nauseous look.

"Harry, are you ok mate?" Sirius patted him in the back.

Harry took a deep breath and said "I've never met her Sirius, how will I know it's her?"

"Your dad and I know it's her, Dumbledore too. You have to trust us and hey, maybe when you see her you _will _know."

Harry nodded but didn't reply as him and his godfather headed down to the Ministry to see his sisters and mother for the first time in eleven years. Harry thought back to all the times he'd heard a girl's voice in the back of his head, almost whispering to him, and the images and memories that were not his own but sometimes flashed into his brain and once passed, he could not remember. All these years, he'd thought it had been his dead sister speaking to him, but if she was alive…who the hell had it been.

* * *

Andrew Stone watched by as his sister held their aunt's hand encouragingly. He stared sympathetically at the woman who had given up her career, engagement and life to raise him and his twin sister when their parents died all those years ago. Aunt Sam was like a mother to him but he didn't dare console her since, try as he might, he could not even begin to imagine what she was going through. First her best friend and her daughters are killed then, the only other friend she had left was accused of murdering the first one, '_man, were those four long months of trials bad', _and now that Jason was cleared, it turned out Lily was alive- it was more than anyone could handle. Jason appeared and sat on his aunt's other side, taking her hand and giving her a warm smile. Aunt Sam looked back at him with the same excited smile that did a poor job of hiding her nervousness.

"Samantha, I thought you might be here seeing as you were always one of Lily's closest friends." A voice from behind Andrew spoke up. Andrew turned around to see Amos Diggory, Cedric and Camille Diggory's dad, standing there with his belly tucked into his pants and a smile on his face. Samantha smiled at him and replied, "We were indeed Amos." The three adults started conversing but Andrew and his sister turned around to greet the Diggory children.

"Hiya Cedric." Andrew shook hands with the tall seventh year Hufflepuff who greeted him in return. "Hey Andrea, you're looking as pretty as ever." Cedric said to his sister with a lustier tone than Andrew would've preferred but he couldn't bring himself to say anything since Cedric's sister herself was and always had been the object of his affection.

"Hullo Camille" he smiled abashedly at the pretty fifth year Hufflepuff. Camille was a year younger than him and his crush since third year. She was everything he wanted in a girl: smart, pretty, sweet and most importantly, innocent. Unlike most of the girl's at Hogwarts, Camille was pure and modest. Unfortunately for him though, she'd always been too sweet to acknowledge his advances and currently she was dating Ravenclaw Quidditch Team seeker, Mark Sierra.

"Hello Andrew. How are you?" she smiled at him.

"I'm good" he grunted, trying to seem nonchalant- behind him Andrea giggled. "How's umm…uh, Mark?"

"Oh, not so good" she smiled sadly at him "I don't think that's going to last."

Inner Andrew did a happy dance and resisted the urge to hug her while outer Andrew put on a sad face and said "Oh that's too bad, how come?" Before she could answer he was interrupted by the booming voice of Sirius Black "Sam, there you are." He walked up to his aunt and motioned for her and Jason to follow him "They'll be here any minute."

Upset at the interruption, but not wanting to leave his aunt alone, Andrew followed them with Andrea and the Diggorys following closely behind. They passed several hallways and finally entered the Minister of Magic's huge office. Fudge was arguing quietly with Dumbledore behind his desk while the Potter boys and Remus Lupin sat around huddled closely together on the couches and chairs. Sam went to the eldest Potter sons and Remus and gave them a big hug. Andrea went to sit next to Harry who smiled and let her grab his hand.

Andrea was definitely one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts' with the straightest raven black hair imaginable and the exotic violet eyes she shared with her brother- unfortunately her looks went hand in hand with a shadier reputation than Andrew would've liked. If Harry Potter was Hogwarts' number one playboy (and he was), then Andrea was the number one playgirl. It stood to reason that these two would some day date and date they did, for two weeks in their fifth year last year. Although they were both good looking people individually, together they were a strange couple, especially considering Andrea's impeccably straight hair and Harry's messy mane. In the end they broke up but unlike other girls that had lived a short relationship with Harry Potter, Andrea and he had remained pretty close friends- something Andrew disliked quite a bit. He'd always had a sore spot for Potter since the first and last time he'd gotten the nerve to ask Camille out during his fourth year and it had turned out Potter was already dating her. Potter, who Andrew had known for years, was well aware of Andrew's longtime crush on Camille. What was worse was that Potter ended up being Camille's on again, off again boyfriend for the years to come.

As much as he disliked Potter, Andrew couldn't help but feel sorry for him now that he looked so scared. Trying to be polite he headed towards him and offered a kind hello to which Potter responded with a small but grateful smile. Andrew tried to think of something to say when the doors opened and James Potter walked in with his wife and daughter's behind him.

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**OK THAT'S WHERE I'M ENDING IT! BUAHAHAHAHA**

_**Nawww..just kidding hahahaha I bet you freaked out. Man talk about a mood killer huh? Oh well…here's goes the rest: Enjoy!

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**_

Everyone stared at each other for several seconds since the arrival was so sudden. It was Auror James Potter that broke the silence. "Oh man! Crap! I thought you guys weren't arriving until later."

"Lily?" Sam's voice broke through the silence. The short redhead that had been standing next to James looked up at Sam and tears filled her face. Both friends ran forward and hugged happily while everyone stared dumbfound. "She's a _mom_?" Andrea whispered to his ear and Andrew shut her up with a elbow to the ribs.

The woman then turned to Remus, Jason and the eldest Potter sons. The girls that seemed to be the eldest Potter daughter's also took a turn at hugging their elder brothers and godfathers. Finally Lily Potter turned to her youngest sons, Darren and Danny. Andrew didn't know much about them except that they'd always reminded him of miniature versions of Fred and George. What had started out as an awkward introduction ended up as touching and sweet albeit short embrace. Lily turned to Rick, who Andrew had always liked and considered the smartest Potter, even if his hobbies were a bit erm...on the risky side. Then she turned to Jake who gave her an wakward smile and the shortest hug so far. Finally she turned to Harry, who stared at her for several seconds before finally stretching his hand in front of him for a handshake. She smiled as they shook hands and gave a brief glance at her daughters behind her. "If I hadn't already known it, I would be sure now that you are Harry."

Harry frowned and released her hand. Lily Potter moved back and looked back at all her long lost sons with a huge smile and tears in her eyes. "I can't even tell you how happy I am to know that you are all alive and well and how glad I am at our chance to be a family. James stood behind her and, putting a hand around her shoulders smiled happily and said "These are your sisters."

The tallest one came forward and started to introduce herself. Andrew had to stop himself from drooling at the curvy beautiful blonde who looked like a model. He only concentrated enough to hear her say her name was Jess or something. Next came a pretty brunette who was as short as Lily Potter but even skinnier than her tall sister, she introduced herself as Jane. Jess and Jane were crying and looking on happily at their younger brothers but their sisters didn't seem as keen to introduce themselves so Lily did it for them.

"This is Daisy" she spoke mostly to Danny and Darren as she introduced an adorable, smaller, blue eyed version of herself "she's your younger sister, your triplet." Both boys nodded but stood their ground, the small Daisy nodded right back. Lily sighed and turned to a couple of brunette girls that were identical except that one had curly hair and the other had straight hair.

"These are Erin and Annie" Lily spoke to Rick this time "Erin" she pointed to the curly haired girl "was born first, then you Rick and finally" she pointed to the straight haired 13 year old "Annie was born last." Once again nobody moved from their place as the newfound triplets studied themselves and nods were exchanged. Lily sighed and turned to the cute curly haired red head with the pretty turquoise dress.

"This is Amanda, who we call Amy. She's fifteen, a year older than you Jake and a year younger than you, Harry." Not even nods were exchanged this time and with an air of surrender, Lily Potter turned to her last daughter.

Andrew turned to look at the last Potter girl and held back a gasp. He had not noticed her before but now that he had he couldn't believe he had not noticed her before. Unlike her brushed blonde, brunette and redheaded sisters, she had a dark messy black mane that cascaded down to her lower back making her stand out from the rest. Unlike her sisters who looked perfectly decent with their spring motif dresses, she was wearing a black short skirt with a white blouse and leather boots and jackets. It was a look that said high fashion rocker. She was taller than her mother but not as tall as her model blonde sister and she was gorgeous. She looked exactly like her mother but her complexion was not as pale, she had no freckles and the black hair, lack of red hair and darker skin made her eyes seem much brighter than any of her sister's.

"Wow" Andrew heard Cedric mutter behind him and shook himself out of his reverie. Sure she was beautiful but she seemed to be flashy, like hir sister, not his type at all- besides, he had Camille.

"This is Emily" Lily said pushing her daughter forward "She's your twin Harry" Harry made a small jerk as if he was holding himself back. Andrew expected the same ritual nod when suddenly Emily walked forward and stood half a feet away from Harry. Harry stood up and they stared each other down for a couple of beats. The awkwardness in the room turned to tension in a hurry when brother and sister simultaneously stretched and shook their hands for a few seconds while the rest of the room stared in quiet amazement. And then, for the first time in all the years he'd known him, Andrew saw Harry Potter's eyes water and him and Emily pulled in for a tight hug that made it seem glued together. Andrew wasn't certain but he thought he heard Emily say a muffled "I knew it, I knew it." The hug seemed to break the tension and suddenly every Potter in the room was hugging each other and crying. It was an emotional sight and Andrew felt completely inappropriate watching it.


	9. The likes of the Stepfords

Hello! and sorry for the delay. Here's the latest chapter of Torn Apart. It's not much but I hope you like it. **Read and Review Please!!! **

PS: Get ready for some whiplash!

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"It's weird right?" Emily talked while reading the Quibbler on top of his bed "I mean after so many years, it's just not normal."

"Well we haven't seen each other since we were babies and it's normal." Harry answered his sister. He was also on the bed but with his back against the wall, strumming along his guitar.

"That's different. We're siblings." Emily said throwing the magazine aside.

"And they are husband and wife." Harry said slowly.

"Yeah, husband and wife who have not seen each other for _years._ Husband and wife who though each was dead and I have no doubt dated and _slept _with other people when they were still married. I mean you don't just pick up from there like it's nothing! It's weird and unnatural and feels like I've been living inside an episode of _The Brady Bunch_._"_

"The what?" Harry asked.

"Muggle thing." Emily mumbled dismissively "I mean, doesn't your dad have a girlfriend?"

"He's your dad too." Harry corrected.

Emily gave another dismissive motion and Harry sighed and answered "Yeah. He had a girlfriend but I think Adam asked him and he told him that was over."

Emily didn't say anything but rather just stared at his guitar in thought. "I don't know. It just feels weird to me living like this."

"Of course it does. It's been three weeks and you're used to living with girls. Trust me it's weird for us too. It's going to be okay." Harry tried to smile.

His optimism seemed to confirm her fears rather than make her feel better. "I just feel like, everyone is being forced to fit together so perfectly, I'm afraid we'll up and break eventually."

"Have you told any of your sisters this? Or your mom?" Harrys asked her quietly.

"Your mom too." she mumbled.

"Have you?" Harry pressed again, ignoring her comment.

"No. I don't want to worry them with my pessimism."

"Oh so It's alright to worry me though?" Harry asked mocked undignified.

"Umm yeah." Emily grabbed the guitar from his hands and laughed "I just met _you_. Come on, I'll play you my new song."

Harry smiled and heard her play. He understood what she meant though. He understood everything she meant. He understood her like he'd never understood anyone before and she got him like no one ever got him before. Like her, he also felt the unnatural scene his old and new family had been thrust into and was afraid it could crumble at any moment. He already had a quidditch field full of affection for his sisters, especially cuter than life Daisy and Rachel (who had come as quite a shock to James but the old fart quickly became a sickeningly doting grandfather.) They'd been living together for a week and already you could feel the clear affection all members of the house felt for each other. You could also tell the way everyone was walking on tiptoes, trying their best to keep everyone else happy. It was a Stepford land and the only one who he didn't feel that from was Em.

Emily finished the song and Harry realized he hadn't heard anything. She laughed and threw him a pillow. "You didn't hear anything did you?"

Luckily a knock on the door came and Harry was saved from answering her.

"Hey guys." Charlie's red mane popped into the room. He smiled at them and said "Get ready, we've been called to a ball."

"What?" Emily asked, sounding as confused as Harry felt.

"We've been invited to the Diggory Manor Party and mom and dad decided we should go. Lotsa people live in this house and there are only six bathrooms so...good luck." With that he ran out of there. Emily and Harry stared at each other for five seconds and then took off to get ready.

-*-

* * *

Amy searched her closet for something to wear to the party. She was annoyed at the last minute decision to attend since she always required at least one day to pick something. Special attention should've been given to this party since it would be her debut into her new life. The party would be at that cute Cedric's house, she would meet her future schoolmates and all eyes would be on her and her sisters and she had nothing to wear!

Amy was about to holler for her sister but stopped herself thinking that her screaming probably wasn't something her brothers wanted to hear. She put on her bathrobes and sauntered over to Emily's room with five dresses in hand. She found Emily trying to unsuccessfully brush her hair.

"I don't know why you bother. It looks fabulous messed up anyway." Amy told her sister. The compliment was sweet but had an underlying note of bitterness Emily caught but ignored.

"Yeah but the dress I'm wearing tonight goes well with straight hair." Emily said.

"Speaking of which what will you be wearing?"

"The mirror mosaic dress I found at that vintage shop with Jane that one time. The short one."

"Oh yeah." Amy said "Yeah, that's perfect."

"What are you wearing?" Emily finally stopped fussing over her hair.

"I don't know. What should I wear?"

"That pink Dior you have looks nice." She pointed to one of the dressed in her sisters hand.

"Yeah but wearing a muggle designer on a wizard event?"

"Wizard designers are horrid. The only good one is mom and even she prefers muggle clothing style."

"Alright." Amy turned to leave when Emily said "Oh and can i borrow your hair straightener?"

* * *

-*-

"Hey Rach" Jess cooed while holding up her niece "Who's the cutest baby ever?"

"Thanks Jess" Jane grabbed her daughter from her younger sister's arms. "I needed to get dressed."

"You're going to leave her with Ruth?"

"Yeah but grandma's plane just got here and I wouldn't have time to get ready if I had waited for her."

"No problem. I was already ready."

"You look nice by the way" Jane said studying her sister who was wearing a long-ish and very cleavage showing red dress "nice to see you back in your old clothes."

"Yeah well" Jess flipped her blond mane around "I figured that if I keep up the conventional look I'll probably please dad but will probably end up being picked up by an unbelievably boring guy, like that last guy you dated. Joel the Gringotts accountant was it?"

"Hey" Jane swatted her sister in the shoulder "He was a very nice man."

"If by nice you mean unbelievably dull then yes he was."

Jane giggled "I'm kinda glad Emily ran him off for good when she 'accidentally' set his hairpiece on fire."

"So are we all believe me." Jess laughed remembering the happy incident.

"What in the hell are you doing dating a guy with a hairpiece?" a gruff laugh interrupted both sisters. They turned around to see Adam and Charlie walk in.

"Knock much?" Jane said and handed the baby over to Adam who was making gestures to hold her "And he was just prematurely bald."

"You can do so much better than old prematurely bald men." Charlie put an arm around her shoulder.

"Yes well none of the good looking ones are interested in a 23 year old widow with a three year old daughter." Jane nodded towards Adam who was rocking Rachel in the air.

"Yeah I still can't believe you got married at 17 and had a baby." Adam said.

"Yeah well he was a military man." Jane stopped talking when she felt her heart clench like it always did when she thought of Michael.

"She's right thought. So far the only men she's dated that are good looking and don't mind Rachel are the one's that run off after the first night of sex." Jess interrupted.

"Oh I'm sure that's not true." Charlie argued.

"Would you date a 23 year old with a 3 year old?" Jane asked him.

"Ummm...no." Charlie said "But that's only because I'm 20 and I don't date older women."

"Oh please." Adam laughed "You dated a 36 year old cougar when you were 19."

Jess laughed "What!? Did _she _have a hairpiece?"

Baby Rachel laughed along with her mother and aunt and uncles even though she wasn't quite sure what the joke was.

* * *

-*-

"I'll bet it's something like an obstacle course." Daisy curled a strand of red hair around her index finger as was habit while talking around the fireplace with her brothers.

"I hope we get to fight something." Danny giggled excitedly.

Darry spoke up in a soft mysterious voice "Fred and George Weasly told me that they make you battle a troll to get sorted."

"Wow." Daisy and Danny said impressed.

"Well that's actually not true." Remus appeared from behind them "The sorting is nothing difficult or life threatening."

"Aww come on Uncle Remus why do you have to ruin all the fun?" Darren cried out.

"Sorry to ruin your fun but we'll be leaving soon and none of you have your shoes on."

"Shoes take like a second." Danny said while Daisy nodded furiously alongside of him.

"Yeah? Well then how about a race? The first one to put on their shoes and head back down here wins. Ready? Set? Go!"

The three redheads stared at the dressed up werewolf. "How old does he think we are?" Daisy whispered.

"The winner gets a chocolate chips put in the next time I cook pancakes for breakfast..." Remus added.

The triplets gave each other a glance and then ran off to their rooms, pushing and shoving each other as they went.

"Guess they're not little kids anymore huh?" Remus said more to himself than anyone else.

"Nope." Sirius who had been paying close attention to the exchange from a nearby armchair said "But they're still little enough for us to mess with. And we still have Rachel." Both men stared at each other for less than a beat before running off to Jane's room screaming "Rachel! Rachel!"

* * *

-*-

While Rick was showing Annie his _Hamazing Book of Hippogriffs_, Erin was bored to tears. Hippogriffs were awesome in person but in a book they were just plain boring. She turned her attention to Jake who had been writing something for a while now.

Her brown curls bouncing at her sides, Erin stood next to Jake and asked "Watcha doing?" all the while trying to read what he'd written.

"A letter." Jake grunted in replye, hiding the contents of the letter from view.

"For who?" Erin asked.

"What's it to you?" Jake asked her. They held a staring contest for several seconds until Rick interrupted the silence. "He's writing to his girlfriend, Sidney."

"Sidney?" Erin asked in a sing song voice "Is she pretty?"

"Yes." Jake said annoyed and got up to send his letter.

"What's up with him?" Erin asked Rick. The smart magical creature lover shrugged and said "Probably cause we've been stuck here for two weeks and he hasn't seen her so he's grumpy."

"Oh." was all Erin said as she looked to the door where he brother had left.

* * *

-*-

"Alright, is everybody ready to go?" Lily asked her family while she tied Daisy's coat closed. They answered with an incoherent chorus of yeses.

"Good. Now the boys know this but girls listen up, beyond being a social event, this is a business event since my boss- Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is likely to be present. I need you all to be on your best behavior and look after each other. Besides that, everyone is going to want to meet you and ask questions so be careful with that. Got it?"

The girls nodded along unenthusiastically. James sighed but grabbed hold of Daisy and Darren's hands and walked over to the fireplace. "Let's go then."

And go they did.


	10. New People and Scars

I apologize to all my reviewers for the inexcusable delay. After the last chapter I felt blocked so I worked on other stories, but It's finally starting to come out. Hope you all keep reading and reviewing. Thanks.

* * *

**New People**

**_Chapter 10_  
**

Their arrival at the "ball" had been pretty embarrassing considering they had been introduced by a loud toot of trumpets closely followed by stunned and curious silence. With every person she was hastily introduced to, Emily felt the gaze of a million gawkers openly staring at her with a mixture of fear and wonderment; as if she was a two headed dog due to spontaneously combust at any given moment. She was glad when when the eldest Diggory brother, Adam Diggory, whom she met that night, offered to give the Potter children a tour of his family manor. The opportunity offered them a chance to catch their breath and escape the crowd.

The manor was spacious albeit pretentiously fancy to the point of being tacky. It was bigger than the Potter house they were currently inhabiting but smaller compared to Aunt Kate's place.

"The Potter Manor is much bigger but Dad never wanted to live there. He grew up there and always felt it was too big, even with our family so he got the apartment we live in now." Harry whispered to her as if he knew what she had been thinking about. That happened a lot with him so Emily was not surprised.

"I hope he hired a better decorator than these people." Emily mumbled back.

"What's a decorator?" was Harry's only response.

Emily stifled a laugh and then Adam Diggory showed them a nicely shaped library that, upon closer inspection, proved to be equipped mostly with self-help books. As the siblings took a chance to look around Emily found the only non self-help section in the room. It was a small but impressive selection that ranged from muggle poets like Edgar Allan Poe to witch novelist like Baniarda Lincoln.

"Lincoln has plots that wind on too long for my taste but I really enjoy her characters. Poe is just brilliant. Sometimes I can't believe he's a muggle." a voice behind Emily stated. She turned around to come face to face with Adam Diggory.

"Your collection I take it?" She asked pointing at the cluster of books behind her.

He nodded and gave a laugh "Yes."

"Edgar Allan Poe _was_ brilliant but what does that have to do with being a muggle? I find muggles to be smarter than wizards in most manners since they don't have magic to occupy their time and hinder at their talents." Emily said.

He got flustered at her words and said "Well I didn't mean it that way. My family is pro-muggle, always has been."

"Ok." Was all Emily said as she put the book down and walked away resisting the urge to tell Diggory that the very fact that he was 'pro-muggle' meant that he thought of muggles as inferiors, brilliant he might find them or not; like a dog you were impressed with because it could walk on it's hind legs.

"That was harsh." Harry smiled when she approached implying that, even though he had been on the other side of the room, he had overheard the short conversation.

"Whatever." Emily scoffed "Shouldn't we get back to your fan girls?"

Emily had been beyond surprised to learn that Harry James Potter, her twin brother, had a ridiculous following of girls who very nearly groped him publicly for his attention. To her disdain, he cockily responded with sickeningly cliche and sometimes perverted suggestions.

"Is it my fault I'm so popular?" Harry waved his hands defensively.

"You're a pig." Emily said simply and Harry laughed. They followed their siblings and prepared to head back to the main party. The Gathering Hall had been just as they left it but now with a bunch of new red heads to color up the crowd.

"Ron!" Harry called out and a tall, gangly but cute red headed boy walked over to him.

"Harry!" he said in a gruffer voice than Emily would've thought. Both boys embraced in 'pat-on-the-back' hug as a greeting. Behind Ron another girl had followed with a cute skirt and messy brown hair. She gave Harry a more exuberant hug and for a second, Emily thought she was another lusty girl.

Harry turned to her beaming and said "Em, these are my best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

Emily greeted them both excitedly; she had heard of them from Harry. Ron gave her a swift handshake and although he blushed somewhat in the ears when she looked him in the eyes, he held her gaze. Hermione on the other hand squealed slightly and with watery eyes gave Emily a hug as big as she'd given Harry. When she released a surprised Emily she apologized and explained how happy she was to meet her. Emily thanked her and decided immediately that she liked these people.

Together the four of them grabbed some plates and filled them up with food from the buffet (Ron's plate was more full than the others) and sat down at a nearby table where they were quickly joined by a pair of red headed twins that immediately reminded Emily of her younger brothers Darren and Danny.

"This is Fred and George Weasley. They are Ron's brothers." Hermione Granger introduced them since Ron couldn't talk with his mouth full.

"Nice to meet you." the one Hermione had called Fred said while the other one, George, offered a smile. They turned to Harry and revealed the reason for their visit.

"We're going back to Hogwarts' this year. We're thinking Major Prank War. Would you Potters be interested?" George said.

Before Harry could respond however, Hermione cut in "What do you mean your going back to Hogwarts? You graduated last year!"

"Didn't pass the NEWTS." Fred shrugged.

"Mom wants us to go back." George added like it was no big deal.

"S'fine with us since we haven't raised enough money for a joke shop anyway." Fred finished.

Hermione looked scandalized and Emily just stared open-mouthed at their nonchalance.

"We have more Potters now. Things could get ugly." Harry stated.

"True but we've already recruited Lee and the Gryffindor quidditch team. We'll let you have Ron though."

"Gee thanks." Ron mumbled.

Harry laughed, "Fine then. Lets do it." before shaking hands with both twins.

"A Prank War?" Emily looked questioningly at Harry who shrugged in response.

"It'll help them promote their future joke shop. Plus, Prank Wars are loads of fun. There hasn't been a good one since Charlie's seventh year."

"You shouldn't do it you know." Hermione reprimanded.

"We know." Both Harry and Ron said at the same time before they continued eating, making Emily laugh and Hermione scowl.

They ate uninterrupted for a few minutes and made some jokes and Ron and Hermione asked Emily a few question about her old school and how she grew up with muggle women. They all stayed out of uncomfortable subjects like how she was supposed to be dead and such. When they were munching on dessert, a curvy and beautiful girl with raven black hair and violet eyes sat at their table.

"What's this I hear about a Prank War?" she smiled at Harry.

"No way. They're recruiting already?" Harry stopped eating and looked in the direction of Fred and George who were laughing at something Sirius was saying.

"Naw." the girl said "They were just telling Lee about it and I overheard. What do you say though? Want to start early and give me your pitch?"

"Our pitch is simple. Want to win the Prank War? Join us." Harry told her making her laugh.

She looked at Emily and smiled "I'm Andrea Stone. We met that day at the Ministry but I'm not sure you remember me."

The only time Emily had been at the Ministry was the day she met her brothers and she did not remember this girl. Then again, she had a lot going on that day.

"Sorry." Emily said offering her a hand "I really don't remember you. I'm Emily Evans." Emily said as she shook the girls hand. The tabled filled with a slight silence leaving Emily to wonder what she'd said. Before she could ask however, it was over and a pretty red headed girl walked past their table prompting a "Ginny! Date me!" from Harry. The girl, who Emily later learned was Ron's sister, looked annoyed as she told Harry where he could stick his broomstick, making the whole table minus Harry laugh.

Emily met very many people that night. Most she would not be able to remember, many she did not care too. She remembered some friendly people like Neville and Natalie Longbottom, resident Gryffindor sixth years. She met Camille and Cedric Diggory again and Adam Diggory stopped by a few times to talk. The Gryffindor girls, Purple and Patardi or something were nice enough, but there were other people Emily did not appreciate. Like the Ravenclaw captain Drew Morningside, who kept looking at her breast instead of her face or Draco Malfoy who decided to stop by and prove to be one of the most annoying little gits Emily had ever laid eyes upon. She met Andrea's brother Andrew again (according to them) but he didn't seem to like Emily much for some reason. And finally, the one Emily liked the least (they were a bit of a tie with Malfoy but still...): a group of fifth year girls that came over to say hello. They were all from different houses and their group included Ginny Weasley. Their obvious leader Kimberly Clayton from Hufflepuff greeted her and complimented her clothes in the plastic and totally fake way Emily recognized from the girls at her old school. Whatever this girl said now would be the exact opposite of what she would say to Emily's back. Once they left, Hermione confirmed them to be what was considered the 'popular girls' of Hogwarts.

Emily noticed that most of them, even the boys treated Harry with a sort of hero worship attitude. She'd even heard someone refer to her as the famous Harry Potter's sister. She wondered if Harry's Casanova exploits had made him that famous and asked him.

"Oh that." Harry told her half embarrassed, half annoyed "It's just because of a stupid scar."

"What scar?" Emily asked as they walked to the buffet table for the second time that evening. Like Emily, Harry loved to eat.

"A lightning shaped scar in the forehead." He shrugged.

"You mean this one?" Emily asked pulling her bangs up and showing Harry her forehead "How did you even know about it and what does it have to do with anything?"

Harry didn't answer her and instead stared shocked at the lightning scar on the left side of her forehead. It took him thirty seconds to react but it was already too late. Emily had stood in the middle of the party with her forehead exposed to Harry for too long. A reporter for the Daily Prophet who had been covering the ball saw and snapped a picture of her scarred head. After that, chaos ensued. The reporter was not the only one who had seen and people began shouting and asking how it was possible. Emily and Harry were almost throttled by the mass of people surrounding them and blinded by the flashing cameras. It felt like forever but finally, Emily felt a pair of hands pull her from the crowd. Charlie had pulled her out of there and next to him, Sirius was carrying Harry. Remus, James, Jane, Adam, Jess and her mom were all busy rounding up the rest of her siblings from what she could see. It seemed the 'Ball' was over.


End file.
